Fernhurst

Fernhurst is a thriving village on the western edge of the Sussex Weald. For much of its history it has been fairly remote, partly because of its isolation and partly because of the difficulties of travelling on the sticky clay of the Weald in medieval times.

The first signs of a village taking shape at Fernhurst come with the building of the Church dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch – a crusader’s favourite saint.

There are several houses with 14th and 15th century remnants in Fernhurst and several more that are more substantially from the 17th century, when the area started to become quite rich from the burgeoning iron industry. This wealth didn’t last forever and the industrial revolution meant that Sussex ironworks could not compete with the great factories of the north of England when they started to use coal power.

In 1749 a turnpike or toll road made Fernhurst better connected to the rest of the world and many travellers from Chichester up towards Farnham and Guildford found it easier to pass through the village.

110 years later the railway from the the small town of Haslemere on the Surrey border made Fernhurst more accessible still and this gave a great push to the size of the village which now continues to have a sizeable chunk of commuters among its population.

The great looming hillside of Blackdown sits high above the village. On a clear day you can see from Blackdown all the way across the Weald to the Devils Dyke above Brighton and even as far as Lewes in East Sussex.

FERNHURST INFORMATION

The Fernhurst Centre

Fernhurst's Community Centre has an internet cafe, runs a business club, and is the base for many groups in Fernhurst including Walking for Health, the Fernhurst Reading Circle and the Fernhurst Art Group

Fernhurst Society

The Fernhurst Society aims to enhance the life and environment of the village of Fernhurst - and the Society has had some success in this, with Fernhurst winning several best kept village awards over the last 20 years.

The Fernhurst Society runs an oral history group to capture Fernhurst's living history and has published some transcripts of these accounts of the village's past in a book called Voices of Fernhurst.

Fernhurst Football Club

Fernhurst F.C. now train at the Grange Centre in Midhurst on Tuesdays. Fernhurst F.C. run three adult teams including a Veterans XI and youth football.

Fernhurst School

Fernhurst Primary School, Haslemere Road, Fernhurst, near Haslemere.

St Margaret's Church

Fernhurst's Anglican Church. The Priest in charge describes the church as "a village-based welcoming Anglican Church open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, committed to worshipping the Lord and to serving the community in which we live.".

The more secular among you may be interested in the excellent section of the church's website which deals with the history of the church - pointing out which bits of the surviving architecture are Norman and which bits are later additions.

You can also make a donation to help the church in its aim of building a new community room if you would like to.

Fernhurst Über Cool Car Klub

Enjoy cool cars but not the various traffic calming schemes around Fernhurst.

Fernhurst.net

Fine village website with details of many of the main community groups in the village. Activities and groups covered by the site include the Fernhurst Choral Society, Fernhurst Films, Fernhurst Good Companions, Fernhurst Luncheon Club, Fernhurst Revels, where Fernhurst turns out in force to welcome the May Queen, Fernhurst Horticultural Society, Fernhurst Village Hall, Fernhurst Youth Club, Fernhurst Bowls Club and Fernhurst Cricket Club.

Fernhurst TVR

The beautiful TVRs of the Fernhust TVR motor showroom.

PLACES NEAR FERNHURST

Map of the area

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Tuesday February 07